The Monster of Thorney Towers
by The Forgotten Legend
Summary: After five years, Raz returns as a camp counselor. With old rivalries, new romances, and kids disappearing, it's just a typical summer at Whispering Rock. Bobby/Raz


**First things first**, there's another fic just like this (title, summary, and first couple chapters) by General LZ. I'm one and the same. I just forgot my email for that account so I'm starting over under a new username. That's just a quick FYI.

**Secondly,** this is a Bobby/Raz fic. If you don't like the pairing, then you don't have to read. You don't have to tell me. It's not necessary.

**Anywho,** I hope you'll enjoy!

_Disclaimer: _I do not own Psychonauts. Doublefine, however, does. kthnx.

* * *

Razputin Aquato shifted his feet in the dirt. He chewed on the inside of his bottom lip as he stood in front of the main lodge.

He had every right to be nervous.

Since he had become a Psychonaut, he had seen neither hide nor hair of his once-fellow PSI Cadets for five years. Between missions, Raz spent whatever free time he could muster with either his family or, his good friend, Lili Zanotto.

Although his relationship with Lili did not work out romantically, they remained as friends. They both knew why their relationship didn't work out that way and they were okay with it. They broke up without malice.

It was Lili's idea in the first place that he should come back to the Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp this year.

Despite the small "stealing kids' brains for world domination" incident, the campers returned for the following years. Lili still returned annually.

She said that everyone missed him. Even the snobs Kitty and Franke missed him (or at least missed insulting him).

Although she tried to reassure him, Raz felt like that she may have exaggerated. He knew the others for only a few days and then everyone returned to their old lives. It was almost like Raz was never there.

The young Psychonaut shook his head. '_I shouldn't think like that_,' he thought. '_It's not like I can get out of it now._'

He already informed Lili that he had arrived using telepathy. If he left now, he would have a very pissed off brunette to deal with.

Raz inhaled in great depth. He had not been able to breath in fresh air for a while. Most of his missions sent him to dissolute cities or factories.

His eyes flickered around. It felt odd to be running around outside at night without hearing the growl of a fire-starting cougar.

Those were good memories. Out to save the world from a psychic apocalypse fueled by psychic-propelled brain tanks and giant cats kept setting him on fire. And if it wasn't the cougars, it was the telekinetic bears.

Speaking of memories, he vaguely wondered how everyone has changed. Five years meant a lot when they dealt with adolescents.

He had changed quite a bit himself. His red wine hair had grown into a variant of a shag, reaching his jawline. He wore his red goggles atop of his head (they were his agent trademark after all). His height increased to about five feet and eight inches. He was heavier, stronger, and if he dared to say it, more good looking.

"Geez, if you love yourself so much, why don't you marry it?" A voice teased.

His eyes snapped to the source, which led to the mordant brunette. The girl had changed as well over the years. Her hair was cut into a bob that nicked the nape of her neck. The amount of makeup and the fingerless gloves remained the same. She wore a simple pair of jeans, a skulled pink tanktop, and combat boots. Her overall height fell four inches shorter than Raz's and her breasts, as the boy noticed, came in rather well.

A smirk graced his face. "Maybe I should. I am, after all, ruggedly handsome." He flexed his muscles into strongman poses.

Lili rolled her eyes. "Or maybe ruggedly stupid," she retorted as she glanced at his apparel. Her hazel eyes narrowed and her lips frowned. "I can't believe you're still wearing _that_." She gestured her hands towards his official Psychonauts uniform.

"Well, if you gave me more of a warning on this trip, I might've found time to change," he said.

The girl crossed her arms and tilted her hip to the side. "Do you at least have a suitcase?"

Raz smiled cheekily and shrugged. "I'll have it tomorrow." He received an eye roll. "At least no one else is arriving till then."

The brunette took a deep breath and exhaled noisily. Her index and middle fingers massaged her temples. "Honestly, Razputin, do you ever listen?" The boy opened his mouth to reply, but she intercepted, "I told you that this year will be different. Because of the increase of campers, the increase in being understaffed rocketed. Rings any bells?"

Raz opened his mouth, but then slammed it shut and shook his head.

"Well, brainiac, we older kids have been asked to be counselors this year. Everyone is supposed to be here tonight. I don't know all of the details of who's doing what, but Milla is-"

"Wait, Agent Vodello is here?" Raz interrupted.

Lili nodded. "As well as Sasha, Oleander, and Ford." She noted the boy's gaping mouth. "Just because you're always off on some mission doesn't mean that everyone else is."

"Well, I didn't mean…it's just that I thought they might've found something else better to do than babysit kids all summer."

The girl's left eye twitched, but her lips curved into a smirk. "Keep talking like that and you may just end up as mini-Sasha."

Raz grimaced. "Ew," he replied. Though he worshipped the man when he was younger, he knew the German better now. As it turned out, more knowledge meant less idolization.

Giggles escaped from Lili. "I'm just kidding. You'll never get that cranky," she assured. "Now come on." She grabbed one of Raz's wrists and proceeded to drag him towards the bridge that led to the cabin area. "The counselor ceremony is over at Coach Oleander's treehouse. Oh, that reminds me!"

"What?" he asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"Some renovations have been made. Not only are there more kids' cabins, but also specialized cabins for counselors. That means that we won't be sharing with the booger-eaters."

"So, who's sleeping with who?"

The girl turned back towards him and her smile brought a chill to his bones. "You'll see, she answered and turned her attention back to the path ahead.

Raz learned to recognize that smile. That smile meant nothing good to the young Psychonaut.

* * *

"Just a little higher, darling."

"Any higher and it's going to the moon, Vodello," Oleander snapped.

Milla Vodello stepped back and surveyed. Morceau Oleander stood on the right with Sasha Nein on the left. Each man telekinetically held up an end of the banner that read 'Welcome Back!'

She fixed her index fingers and thumbs into a rectangle and peered through it. "Just a tad lower, Sasha, and…perfect!" she exclaimed. Both men sighed in relief as each pulled out a nail to hammer the banner in.

"Milla!" A voice called out.

The Brazilian turned with pursed lips, ready to reprimand the teen. "Lili, you're late. I need you to-" A high pitched squeal escaped from her.

In response to the scream, Oleander seized the radio and ducked underneath the table. He began yelling through it. "Code Red! I repeat, Code Red! Code-"

"Easy, Morry," Sasha reassured as he helped the shorted coach up. "It's just an old friend." He motioned a hand towards Milla.

Oleander cocked a brow. "I have an old friend?" His head turned towards the Mental Minx.

Whoever it was, the poor soul was trapped in one of Milla's crushing bear hugs. Lili stood off to the side while wearing a grin.

"It's so good to see you, darling!" She shouted as she released her prisoner.

Raz chuckled. "It's good to see you too." He stepped back to get a better look at the woman. "Man, Lili wasn't kidding. You're the size of an elephant!" His open palms directed at the Brazilian's swollen stomach.

Despite the comment, Milla smiled sweetly. She knew that the boy was terrible with words. "Well, sweetie, I can't really help that, now can I?"

"How far are you?" he asked. Coming from a large family, he had seen his fair share of pregnancies. He learned pretty quick that pregnant women liked to be asked about the development.

"We're in the third trimester. The doctors said that they'll be due in the summer," she hinted.

Raz raised an eyebrow. "They?"

Lili gasped. "You're having twins?" she cried as she ungracefully shoved Raz aside and gripped Milla's hands.

A wide grin invaded Milla's face and shook her head. "Triplets!" The girls squealed in unison.

Raz covered his ears and staggered over to the men. "Gah! I'm going to lose all my hearing before summer even begins." He checked out his previous mentors. It seemed like time had no effect as Coach Oleander was still short and Sasha Nein still looked like a pouting kitten.

"No kidding," Sasha agreed. He outstretched a hand towards the teen. "Nice to see you haven't set yourself on fire yet, Razputin."

As Raz took and shook the hand, Oleander slammed a hand on the boy's back. "Raz, my boy! Welcome back!"

"It's good to be back, Coach Oleander." Raz chuckled. "So, Sasha," he began slyly as he faced the man. "I heard something about you."

The German frowned. That tone signified embarrassment for the man. "Do I want to know?"

A wry grin plastered Raz's face. "I heard you knocked up Milla on the honeymoon." The grin grew wider. "One shot, three hits, eh?"

A blush burned across Sasha's face. In retaliation, the man smacked his hand on the front of Raz's face and shoved him away. Of course, the action made little difference to Raz's muffled snickered and Oleander's snorts of laughter.

"If I had known that you were to grow up into such a pervert, I-"

"What's going on over there?" Milla's voice rang.

Raz smiled sheepishly before replying. "We were just talking about when the other are going to be here…"

The Mental Minx gasped. "I almost forgot!" She turned her attention to Lili. "I wanted you to wait by the parking lot to tell the other children that the ceremony is here." Milla ambled towards the ramp. "I'll come with you, darling. I want to welcome everybody." She clasped onto Lili's wrist while she walked.

As their heads slowly disappeared around the corner, Sasha called out, "Be careful!"

"Will do, Sasha-darling!" Milla called back.

The German sighed. His eyes flickered to a smirking Raz. "Not one word, Razputin."

Raz threw his hands in the air in defense that caused Oleander to snort.

Sasha rolled his eyes. His legs carried him towards the end of the treehouse. "If anyone needs me, I'll be in my secret lab," he announced before he levitated himself down.

"He does know that his 'secret' lab is printed on the map, right?" Raz asked.

"Eh." The coach waved a dismissive hand. "Let him have his bit of privacy, though public it may be."

"That was almost poetic," Raz pointed out and both gave a chortle. "Anyway, I heard there's an increase in campers. No offense, but I didn't think that kids still came here." Deciding he rather have a good view of the ceremony, he went ahead and scouted for a decent spot.

Oleander strolled to his place at the radio. "None taken." He sighed as he finally got to sit down after a long day of taking orders from the pregnant Brazilian. "Apparently, there has been more Psychonaut activity in public affairs. People are becoming more aware of the positives of psychic abilities, which, in turn, make them more keen and tolerating of their kids' abilities."

"That's cool." Raz nodded. "I saw some of the new cabins. They look nice."

The coach grunted. "That's just because of parent complaint." He scratched his nose and sniffed. "At least we'll have you kids helping out this year."

"Yeah, Lili mentioned that. Do you know who's going to do what?"

Oleander shrugged. "Beats me. It was Milla and Lili's job to the organizing."

"What?! She told me she didn't know." Raz began to frown. Something was up and Lili was behind it.

The pint-sized Patton began picking at his teeth. "Maybe she wanted it to be a surprise?"

"Maybe," he replied. Nonetheless, Lili hated surprises. However, his thought was cut off.

"Raz, is that you?" A shy voice asked.

Although puberty changed the pitch in voices, Raz could still recognize that voice instantly. "Dogen?" His attention pivoted towards the corner where the treehouse met the ramp.

A figure emerged from the angle. "Raz!" Dogen yelled. He waddled towards the other teen and hugged/tackled him.

Raz laughed at the familiarity. "It's good to see you too, buddy!" The younger teen finally released and the Psychonaut took this chance to examine the boy.

Dogen ditched the footsie pajamas for a pair of regular sneakers, sweatpants, and the traditional Whispering Rock t-shirt. Instead of the tinfoil hat, he worse a beanie-like hat that reminded Raz of Psitanium. Dogen fell short of Raz, barely reaching five feet. His body frame remained the same. Overall, Dogen was still Dogen.

One thing Raz noticed most was a colored variant of a Psychonaut badge on the right sleeve of Dogen's shirt.

"Hey Dogen, what's this?" He lightly tugged at the sleeve.

Dogen followed Raz's gaze. Realization dawned on him. "Oh! That's my Psychonaut-In-Training badge. I'm almost a Psychonaut!"

"Congrats!" Since he had jumped from a PSI Cadet to a Psychonaut, Raz had little knowledge of 'becoming' a Psychonaut. "Is anyone else a PIT?"

The blue boy's face scrunched in thought. "I know that Lili, Phoebe, and Quentin are. I think Bob-"

"Raz!"

Again, Raz felt a force tackle him. This was going to be a long night.

* * *

The goggle-wearing Psychonaut sighed as he finally had the chance to sit. It seemed like everyone all arrived at once.

Lili was right about everyone missing him.

Each person greeted him. Some gave him a bear hug like Crystal. Others opted for a one-armed hug like Chops or a high five like Nils. Then there were those who simply nodded in his direction like Kitty. Everyone greeted him and he chatted with each and every one of them.

Since initial greetings passed, Raz was able to analyze each person.

Crystal and Clem had mellowed out. They were still perky, but not as forced as they used to be. And it appeared that they no longer wanted to commit suicide, which was a plus.

Franke and Kitty looked like they stepped off their high pedestal to treat others with mutual respect. They were still snobby though.

Elka and Nils got together again and according to Elka's fussiness, the relationship was going to end later tonight.

J.T. and Chops remained best friends, although they were touchier than Raz remembered.

Benny joined Maloof and Mikhail in their protection business. Of course, being threatened with a half-deadly nelson while being held upside down could do that to a guy.

Elton and Milka were no longer 'out,' but continued to be friends. At least, Raz thought he saw Milka (she still had the habit of turning invisible randomly).

Quentin and Phoebe still had the band. Chloe still wore that space helmet. Vernon still told long and boring stores.

In general, nothing really changed at Whispering Rock.

'_Wait…_' Raz thought. '_Did I miss someone?_'

His thought was not allowed to continue when a Brazilian female's voice called for attention.

"Listen up, darlings! Let's take a seat now," she ordered while she moved to the radio's end of the treehouse.

The chatter seized as each kid took a spot on the wooden benches, beanbag chairs, or the floor. Raz had taken the spot on the teal beanbag chair near the radio, with Dogen on his left on the floor.

After all eyes and ears were aimed at Milla, she began speaking. "Hello children and welcome back to Whispering Rock. As you all know, you get to be camp counselors!" she exclaimed.

She then turned towards Oleander with an outstretched hand. In response, the man dug behind the radio and pulled out a clipboard with papers on it.

After he hand it to her, she glanced at it and cleared her throat. "As protocol, I have to go through roll call. Since I already know that everyone is here, when I call out your name, I'll tell you what your assignment is. Everyone understand?"

Each person made a affirmative noise.

Milla nodded. "Good. First, Razputin Aquato." She looked over and winked. "Because of your rank, you're going to act as Co-Head Counselor. In addition, you will be assisting in Psi-Blast and Confusion. That's a lot of responsibility," she remarked.

"Well, with great power, comes great responsibility," Raz replied.

Lili, who sat on the other side of Dogen, rolled her eyes. "Please, you can barely take care of a goldfish." Raz stuck out his tongue in response.

"Now, now. Let's move on, shall we?" Though Milla came off as sweet, an edge gave away that she was tired and wanted to get this over with. "Franke Athens, Telekinesis. Chloe Barge, since you're not 13 yet, I have a special assignment for you. Mind If I go over it with you tomorrow?"

The small girl saluted. "Fine with me, earthling."

A smile adorned the woman's face. She moved on. "Dogen Boole, I heard that you're pretty good at defense. How about Shield?"

"M'kay," he replied.

"Kitty Bubai, Telekinesis. Mikhail Bulgakov, Telekinesis and do you think you can be on the night crew? You know, to make sure we don't have children running around at night," she explained.

"As long as I get to wrestle bear, I'm good," the Russian boy replied.

"Maloof Canola, since you're not 13 yet either, you'll help in the cafeteria during the day and help Mikhail on the night crew at night. Is that alright?"

Maloof rubbed his hands in thought. Protection service for free? Well, that would just be the night shift. "Sure, no problem."

Milla sighed at the long list. '_Barely half down the list_,' she thought. Though she prized herself as the nicest of the staff members, pregnancy compromised friendliness. Despite that, she must go on. "Elka Doom, Invisibility. Benjamin Fideleo, night crew as well and I have a special project for you. Elton Fir, Clairvoyance. Clem Foote, due to parent complaint, we added extracurricular activities. Mind being in charge of sports?"

The male cheerleader replied cheerfully, "No, ma'am! That would be super!"

"Good then. Quentin Hedgemouse, Levitation. James Hoofburger, Psi-Blast. Phoebe Love, Pyrokinesis. Nils Lutefisk, Clairvoyance. Milka Phage, Invisibility. Crystal Snagrash, you're in charge of arts and crafts. Sounds good?"

"Super good!" came the reply.

The Brazilian nearly squealed in delight. Just four more names to go. "Melvin Sweetwind, you'll help Clem with sports. Vernon Tripe, you'll help Crystal with crafts during the day. At night, you'll be the campfire storyteller in case the children have a hard time sleeping."

A few snickers floated from the campers. They caught on to what Milla was implying.

"Anyway, Lili Zanotto, Shield. And Bobby Zilch…?" Milla looked around the treehouse. "Did we miss him, Lili?" She received a shrug.

"We're here!" An elderly voice called out.

All heads turned to see Ford Cruller walk up with Bobby in tow.

"Sorry we're late. We had some last minute training to finish up," Ford explained.

Uninterested, most of the campers turned back to their business, except one.

Raz held a gaping mouth. The years had done wonders for Bobby. His once orange rat nest of hair was tamed in a more circular afro (not much better though). The years of braces miraculously managed to straighten his teeth out. He towered a little over six feet. And whatever training he did, it added muscle tone to a once wiry frame. He still donned the 00 jersey with ragged jeans. Of course, the boy continued to refuse wearing shoes.

Though he rather would admire this transformation, a question egged at him.

Using Ford and Milla's argument over punctuality as a cover, Raz faced Dogen. "What training?" he asked while his eyes followed Bobby until the boy sat down next to Chloe on the floor in the back.

"It's what I was trying to tell you earlier. Bobby is training to be a Psychonaut too," he answered with timidity. Though people regarded Dogen as not one of the brightest bulbs, he still knew the animosity between Raz and Bobby. Talking to either one of them about the other's achievement was like walking on glass.

Lili, who obviously eavesdropped, entered the conversation. "You know that he's only been training for three months and he's already scheduled to graduate towards the end of the summer." She also knew the danger. But she had a plan to follow.

A frown made way to Raz's face. "And how long is it supposed to take to finish PIT training?"

"The, uh, average is four years," Dogen answered.

Before Raz could react, Milla re-gathered everyone's attention. "Children! Hush, we're almost done." After the campers turned their focus back to the Mental Minx, she pressed on. "I know it's late and I bet you're all tired. After Bobby, you may return to the cabins for the night. Since camp doesn't officially start until tomorrow, I'll assign your cabins in morning. For now, wherever. Understood?"

Everyone muttered in affirmative.

"Good. Bobby Zilch, you'll assist in Pyrokinesis and Confusion. You'll also be the Co-Head Counselor with Raz…" She paused. '_Certainly Lili made a mistake_,' she thought.

**I didn't**, Lili telepathically corrected.

Milla coughed to cover the pause. "As head counselors, you two will plan the activities, groups, and basically who's doing what when." Her eyes flashed from one boy to the other. She hoped Lili knew what she was doing. "Now, children, it's time for bed." She shooed the teens away.

During the herding, Raz felt hands shoving him…right into Bobby.

The taller teen turned and dully glared. He opened his mouth to insult the other before pausing. He slammed his jaw shut and then opened it again. "Watch your step, Aquato." With that, he continued down the ramp.

Two things came to Raz's mind.

One: Bobby lost his lisp.

Two: It was going to be a long, long summer.

* * *

FIN

I hope you liked it! Reviews are appreciated, but faves and alerts are awesome too!


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